Things are looking up for singer Martin Sexton

Martin Sexton came to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center last spring as the opening act for The Tedeschi Trucks Band. On Jan. 11 he gets his shot to headline at BergenPAC.

Martin Sexton comes to Bergen PAC Jan. 11.

Sexton's last full-length album was 2010's "Sugarcoating." His 2012 EP (a shorter album of just five songs), "Fall Like Rain," is his most recent studio offering. Both recordings illustrate Sexton's virtuosic skills as a singer. His pliable, versatile vocals allow the artist to effortlessly weave from one musical genre to the next. It seems like years of effort are paying off for the artist in the form of a career that's steadily growing. His work has been featured in TV shows like "Scrubs" and "Parenthood."

In the following interview Sexton shares his ideas about the times in which we live and the secret of his success.

Q: You've said in interviews that you think we are entering a new 60s.

A: Not heading into, we are definitely in it. There is so much going on that I'm just waking up to. It's time to go out in the streets and occupy and carry signs and talk about it. Spend about it. Vote about it. Act about it and sing about it. That's what I do. I truly love America. I don't know a more patriotic person than myself, but I am not a big fan of our government or the multinational corporations that run it. In the 60s people didn't just listen to pop music and watch TV. They protested. They organized and I think that is happening now. People are waking up to things like the National Defense Authorization Act, the Patriot Act. All of these things chisel away at our ability to fight back.

Q: That is what you see as you travel across the country?

A: That is what I see. They are not just believing everything they see on the news or read in The New York Times. They are looking at things sideways now. Before, I think we tended to take everything hook, line, and sinker. Eyes have been opened and once they've been opened you can't shut them. The more I know, the more I want to know.

Q: At the same time, it seems like your work is getting happier. Is that true?

A: Oh yeah! The records are like photo albums of my life. Since I've been married and had kids I've been enjoying the fruits of my labor, I've been enjoying those simple things.

My kids really are what taught me everything I'll ever need to know. I tend now to really appreciate those super essentials. They are simple things. It's stuff that is easily taken for granted, like family, kids, wife, and friends.

I could drop everything right now without a problem, every possession, every dollar that is in the bank account.

Q: How does the reality of being a singer compare to your childhood dream of being a singer?

A: In many ways it exceeds the dreams. Many ways it has been spot on. What I always dreamed of was having the respect of my peers.

Anything after that was gravy. I believe in what [Joseph Campbell] said about following your bliss. The bliss is sort of what I see as my signpost to follow. If something feels right in my gut, I follow it. So many people I meet, they get up every morning and have a sickening feeling preparing for work.

That would be the signpost of the universe saying, "Turn away from this." Many people I know are waking up and that is what that song "Living the Life" is all about. It's about turning away from that path and going for that other path of that dream you had as a kid.

In following those dreams I found myself in a really good place where I can be a good father and a good friend and an artist who is remaining true to my heart.

Q: Will there be more new music from you in the near future?

A: For my next record, I'd like to actually make a classic country record, sort of like a George Jones 1973 type of production. I'd really enjoy some type of departure like that … I am going to lay low in the coming year. My next record will probably be 2014 sometime.

Things are looking up for singer Martin Sexton

Martin Sexton came to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center last spring as the opening act for The Tedeschi Trucks Band. On Jan. 11 he gets his shot to headline at BergenPAC.

Sexton's last full-length album was 2010's "Sugarcoating." His 2012 EP (a shorter album of just five songs), "Fall Like Rain," is his most recent studio offering. Both recordings illustrate Sexton's virtuosic skills as a singer. His pliable, versatile vocals allow the artist to effortlessly weave from one musical genre to the next. It seems like years of effort are paying off for the artist in the form of a career that's steadily growing. His work has been featured in TV shows like "Scrubs" and "Parenthood."

In the following interview Sexton shares his ideas about the times in which we live and the secret of his success.

Q: You've said in interviews that you think we are entering a new 60s.

A: Not heading into, we are definitely in it. There is so much going on that I'm just waking up to. It's time to go out in the streets and occupy and carry signs and talk about it. Spend about it. Vote about it. Act about it and sing about it. That's what I do. I truly love America. I don't know a more patriotic person than myself, but I am not a big fan of our government or the multinational corporations that run it. In the 60s people didn't just listen to pop music and watch TV. They protested. They organized and I think that is happening now. People are waking up to things like the National Defense Authorization Act, the Patriot Act. All of these things chisel away at our ability to fight back.

Q: That is what you see as you travel across the country?

A: That is what I see. They are not just believing everything they see on the news or read in The New York Times. They are looking at things sideways now. Before, I think we tended to take everything hook, line, and sinker. Eyes have been opened and once they've been opened you can't shut them. The more I know, the more I want to know.

Q: At the same time, it seems like your work is getting happier. Is that true?

A: Oh yeah! The records are like photo albums of my life. Since I've been married and had kids I've been enjoying the fruits of my labor, I've been enjoying those simple things.

My kids really are what taught me everything I'll ever need to know. I tend now to really appreciate those super essentials. They are simple things. It's stuff that is easily taken for granted, like family, kids, wife, and friends.

I could drop everything right now without a problem, every possession, every dollar that is in the bank account.

Q: How does the reality of being a singer compare to your childhood dream of being a singer?

A: In many ways it exceeds the dreams. Many ways it has been spot on. What I always dreamed of was having the respect of my peers.

Anything after that was gravy. I believe in what [Joseph Campbell] said about following your bliss. The bliss is sort of what I see as my signpost to follow. If something feels right in my gut, I follow it. So many people I meet, they get up every morning and have a sickening feeling preparing for work.

That would be the signpost of the universe saying, "Turn away from this." Many people I know are waking up and that is what that song "Living the Life" is all about. It's about turning away from that path and going for that other path of that dream you had as a kid.

In following those dreams I found myself in a really good place where I can be a good father and a good friend and an artist who is remaining true to my heart.

Q: Will there be more new music from you in the near future?

A: For my next record, I'd like to actually make a classic country record, sort of like a George Jones 1973 type of production. I'd really enjoy some type of departure like that … I am going to lay low in the coming year. My next record will probably be 2014 sometime.